Hot Potato
by ThomE.Gemcity-06
Summary: Ryan's not a work, Castle and Beckett are quick to cover him. Includes: Kevin/Castle/Beckett slash subtext.


**a/n: Includes: Castle/Ryan, Castle/Ryan/Beckett**** (**_**I love these two pairings; Castle/Beckett is alright, but Castle/Ryan/Beckett is even better!) **_**nothing graphic, just a lot of subtext + your imagination. Enjoy…**

_Ryan's not a work, Castle and Beckett are quick to cover him._

**Hot ****Potato**

Castle had received no Call from Beckett that morning for murder, so he was the last one to arrived at the bullpen. Beckett was already at her desk, and he handed her her usual coffee takeout, Esposito came towards them, and question on his lips.

"Hey, either of you seen Ryan?" he asked, stopping at her desk.

Kate shook her head. "Sorry, Espo. Not this morning," she took a sip of her coffee and glanced at Castle.

"What about you, Castle?" Esposito looked to the writer next, following Kate's glanced.

"Uh, just got here." Rick said. "But" -he held up a finger to stop the man from speaking further- "I did get a text from him this morning."

"What?!" Esposito exclaimed at this new development. "_You _got a text from him? _You!"_

"Hey!" Castle exclaimed his defence in return. "What is that supposed to mean.

Esposito gave him a scathing look. "_I_ am his _Partner_ and _best-friend, _you just go around cracking jokes." No 'dudes' or 'mans' just straight facts.

Castle was deeply wounded.

Kate glanced at him before looking back Esposito. "Come on, Javi." She scolded him gently. "You know that your names would be right next to each other in his phone, he must've just sent it to Castle by mistake."

"You're right. Sorry, man." Esposito said abashed.

"No, it's fine." Castle waved it off.

"So, uh, what-what'd the text say?" Javier asked, not looking at Castle. "So we know what's up with him,"

Rick wanders off into other thoughts.

"Castle?" Kate raised her brows at the writer.

"Oh? Right!" Castle dug around in his coat, randomly, Esposito waited impatiently. It looked like he just didn't know where his phone was, but Kate had known the man for years; he always knew where his phone was (he was like a teenage girl in that respect), she knew better, she knew he was buying himself time to think. "Ah!" He finally pulled out his phone, turned it right-side-up, and started to scroll through his text history. He tapped the screen, scrolled down, his lips pursed, tapped some more. He paused for a moment, eyes squinted. "He just says: Feeling sick today, not coming to work."

"What?!" Esposito snatched the phone from Castle's paws.

"Hey!" Castle exclaimed in surprise and a tweak of fear.

He and Beckett both watched Esposito closely as he read the text.

"This can't be it," the displeased detective muttered. "He's just sick?"

Rick slowly reached out then snatched his phone back like a striking cobra, before the other man tried to scroll or do anything else with his phone, like maybe throw it across the room or something to that effect.

"That's all he says," Rick tells him, his brows a little lower than level.

"Fine," he flashed them both suspicious brown eyes, before stalking haughtily from the bullpen.

Castle looked after him for a long moment, and when he turns back, he finds Kate staring up at him, giving him a look. "Almost busted," she sang softly for only him to hear.

He sat down in the chair next to her desk after slipping his cell phone back into his pocket, and glared at her.

"You're lucky you took your phone when you did, Castle," she continued in her normal voice, but at the same volume, teasing. "Otherwise Espo would have seen all the other texts that Ryan's sent you-that weren't a 'mistake'." She spoke the last word with air-quotes.

Castle stared at her with tight lips. "Well, that's because you were so helpful, Kate." He said with sarcasm.

Kate smiled at him. "The only reason I haven't gone further is because Ryan's my friend."

"And I'm not?" Rick asked, a little hurt even though he knew that Beckett was only playing.

"Come one, Rick. You know I care about both you and Ryan, and I won't tell Javi until Kevin decides it's time." Kate reassured him, touching his coated arm with her fingertips for a moment before pulling away.

Castle smiled at her, wishing he could reach out and touch her too.

"So," Kate asked curiously, "How come Ryan only sent you a text, and not all of us?"

"Oh, he really his sick. He texted me last night and I stayed over at his place, came from there."

"Really." Kate grinned, the tip of her tongue running along the edge of her white teeth. "Can I read the rest of the text?"

Rick looked at her in surprise. "You knew?"

"Of course I knew, Castle. You are my _Partner _after all."

He couldn't help but smirk at her choice of words. "You sure you really want to?" He asked. "There's no going back if you do,"

"I'm curious," she told him. "And I know Kevin won't mind either."

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you." He fished his phone from his pocket within five seconds and handed it to her.

"Consider me thoroughly warned," she grinned, touching the screen with her fingertip and finding the text that he 'showed' Esposito.

"Alright," he sat back and watched her.

Her lips moved slightly as her soft gaze caressed the screen, and as Castle watched, he saw that the more she read, the wider her gaze got, and the hotter her cheeks.

"Oh my God…" she murmured to herself, "…Is that even possible?"

When she was finally finished reading the text, she sat there still for a moment, the phone still in her hands as she tried to reign in the feelings that it brought upon her. Wordlessly she handed the phone back to Rick.

He tucked the phone back into his pocket as he looked at her with twinkling blue eyes. "So?"

Kate took a deep breath and licked her lips before she looked up at the man. "Maybe a little more warning next time," she told him.

Castle grinned at her. "Now, where would be the fun in that, Beckett."

She glowered back at him. "So, I guess that Ryan had a pretty high fever, huh?"

"Got it in one, detective."

"It was kind of obvious," but she still smiled.

"Oh, and to answer you question, Kate," he said softly, leaning towards her, and she couldn't resist meeting him halfway. "It _is_ possible. When Kevin gets better, the three of us should try it out."

Kate chuckled as her eyes sparkled back at him. "You're on."

_f_

_**Hot **__**Potato**_... _Get it? Ryan's the Hot __Potato__ or maybe it was the __cell phone__ - you decide.__ *wicked grin*_

_y_


End file.
